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"Great 3 in 1"

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A great 3 in 1 - convenient and well worth the money!

I never used to use a base coat when painting my nails as I found it never really did anything however since buying this 3 in 1 I do use it as a base coat and can honestly say I feel it makes a difference especially when evening out my nails to then paint on. After using it as a base coat and then painting my nails with a Barry M shade I use it again over the top and can honestly say its a great 3 in 1 for a top price.

I am a loyal Barry M nail varnish fan and it's rare that I ever buy another brand. I do paint my nails often and can't see myself ever needing to try a different base coat /top coat/nail hardener.

As for hardening my nails I wouldn't say I can comment on, as I'm lucky my nails are quite tough anyway, though as a nail varnish I do think it would strengthen your nails in general because it's a layer of varnish holding your nail together.. So I'd say it does strenghen nails but to what extent I don't know.

Over all I would recommend this 3 in 1 varnish to anyone who likes to paint their nails be it regularly or every so often. It's very convenient as a 3 in 1 so you aren't going back and forward between nail varnishes. I also love that this has two metal balls in the bottom so it keeps the varnish mixed and you can actually see the mixture swirling when it's shook before use. Great varnish that I will definitely be repurchasing!

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Thumbs up from me

There were a couple of reasons that I bought the Barry M 3 in 1 Nail Paint. The first was that I liked the idea of having just one product to perform three functions, the second was that I prefer to use a clear base coat than a tinted one, as I find they can go a little streaky.

The Barry M 3 in 1 Nail Paint is a base coat, top coat and nail hardener all in one. It comes in the same rectangular clear bottle that the rest of the Barry M Nail Paints come in, so is easily recognisable as being the Barry M brand.

To use, you simply paint the clear polish over your nails. The brush is a good size and covers the nails easily. I like the consistency of the polish, it's not too thick or too watery and it goes on easily. As it's clear, it can be difficult to see where it's been applied, but then again, being clear you can't see any bits that have been missed either!

As a base coat, I find it quite effective. In the colder months I wear a lot of dark colours that can stain the nails and this does seem to stop the staining and makes the polish go on more smoothly too.

As a top coat, I also find it very good. It is very glossy, so gives a good sheen to the nails, but it also helps my polish last longer too which is never a bad thing really, as I hate the whole process of actually painting my nails.

The only place I think this falls down is as a nail hardener. My nails have been quite brittle lately and this doesn't seem to make a huge amount of difference - certainly not a noticeable difference anyway.

This product costs £2.99 from Superdrug or Boots. I think that's a really good price, considering it is multi-functional. I know that I have paid more than that for just a base coat or top coat on their own in the past, so even though I don't really think much of it as a strengthener, I still think it's a really good bargain.

Overall, I'm really pleased with this product. It's handy to have a base coat and top coat in one because not only does it save money, but it saves space which is important to me as I have so many hundreds of beauty products cluttering the place up! I'd definitely recommend this, as long as you are not expecting too much from it in terms of strengthening properties.

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Brilliant nail product

DESCRIPTION

Barry M are a famous make up brand perhaps most notably known for their nail varnish or "nail paint" collection. This nail paint is the clear variety and is described as a basecoat, topcoat and nail hardener all in one. I'd used Barry M's dazzle dust before and was pretty impressed with that and so for my birthday last year I purchased some Barry M nail paints to get my nails ready for a night out.

PACKAGING

I really like the Barry M packaging. It's simple but iconic I feel. Most nail varnish's have a curved glass bottle but Barry M's are all square. The lid for this clear nail varnish is black whilst the glass bottle is see through with gold writing on telling us the name of the product and some notes to "shake well" and "keep from heat". There is 10ml of nail paint in the bottle.

PRICE

You can buy this Barry M nail paint from Boots for £2.99.

PERFORMANCE

I was really pleased with this Barry M nail paint. Firstly the brush is of an average size, flat and easy to use. The varnish applies evenly to the nail and dries quickly. This is brilliant for a base coat because you are always eager to get the colour layer on. Once you have applied the colour and allowed it to dry you then apply this clear varnish again as a top coat. I never used to use top coats until I purchased this Barry M product and I must say it's very good at it's job. My nail varnish will generally last with no chipping for a week but with some wear near the top of the nail. The varnish also hardens my nails making them stay stronger for longer. I also like that with Barry M nail paints they include two ball bearings in the pot, the bearings mean you can shake the product well and it doesn't congeal like some cheap nail varnish's do. This Barry M varnish really is very good especially as a top coat, I recently bought some really cheap neon coloured varnishes from Primark after being inspired by Jessie J's nails on the voice and with the Barry M top coat the neon colour lasts for ages! I've had so many compliments. My only down side really would be that when the varnish collects around the screw top it sometimes becomes a bit sticky making the lid slightly difficult to remove, this can be avoided with care though.

STAYING POWER

As briefly mentioned above the staying power really is very good, the top coat is strong.

OVERALL

Overall this is a really good nail varnish and it's easily my favourite top coat. The price also is very good and I've had my bottle since November and not even used a quarter of it yet meaning it lasts long!

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Great 3 in 1, no need to buy three seperate!

I love Barry M's ability to make great nail varnishes at a cost which doesn't break the balance!

As a nail artist I have three major issues from painting my nails...I paint my nails at least once a week which means my nails often break and needed a nail hardener. I often use dark nail varnish colours and therefore needed a basecoat. Finally, I always apply a topcoat to ensure a smooth finish for all my nail art.

Rather than buying three different products for each of my nail needs, Barry M has supplied an all in one nail varnish at a great value! My nail strength has definitely improved and I never have an issue with staining anymore which can often happen with sub par clear nail varnishes. I always use a top and base coat to protect my nails and I always find that Barry M nail varnishes last longer than most.

Sometimes clear nail varnishes bubble when used as a top coat but this is not the case with this clear varnish.

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brill topcoat/base coat polish from Barry M!

It's no secret that I am a fan of saving money and painting my nails myself. It is also no secret I have a bit of a penchant for buying Barry M nail polish. I am a strong believer of doing my nails like the 'pros' do and whilst I don't always use a base coat, I always use a top coat - and Barry M 3 in 1 Nail Polish is one of the best!

It comes in the usual packaging, a clear glass, square bottle with a black handle that has the nail brush attached inside and has a 10ml quantity.

The 3 in 1 nail point is essentially a clear, thick nail polish to be used as a base coat, top coat and a nail hardener. As a basecoat, I feel it works well, as it helps prevent nail polishes from staining my nails and also doubles up as the nail hardener by creating a protective barrier between my nails and the coloured polish being applied. If I am honest, I haven't really used it solely as a nail hardener, as whilst it does provide my nails with a clear, glossy look it doesn't seem to work to permanently strengthen my somewhat weak nails from everyday splits and hangnails.

As a topcoat however, this nail polish is fantastic! It really gives my nails an elegant, glossy, shiny, professional finish. It helps my own coloured nail polish to last longer, preventing chips and the general tacky look when nail polish fade off gradually. It isn't a fast drying nail polish, but as a 3 in 1 I can live with this, and tend to use my freeze dry spray to help the process along anyway!

The only issue I tend to find is it tends to gather colour quite quickly. For example, if I have painted my nails red, and then use this clear 3 in 1 polish as a topcoat the brush will then pick up tinges of red and this colour spreads through the polish. Similarly if I use it once I have painted my nails pink or blue it does the same, so at the moment it is not really a transparent colour at all but more a faintly discoloured polish lol. Nevertheless this has not taken away from it's top coat/base coat abilities as it still looks shiny and makes my nails slightly more hard wearing.

The polish itself is thick, sometimes very thick, so really needs little application to make a big difference. It goes on quite gloopy, (but I have had mine a few months so this could be the results some time down the line!) so careful application is required. The brush is a decent size though and simple strokes doesn't leave it all streaky and lumpy.

To sum up, I really use this mainly as a top coat and occasionally a base coat and on this basis this has served me well. It helps prolong my painted nails and gives a glossy, hi-shine finish. It costs about £2.99 in Superdrug but can usually be picked up on 3 for 2 Barry M offers or on the Barry M website.

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Basecoat, Topcoat & Nail Hardener - All in one!

The Product= = = = = =The product is made by Barry M and is an all in one nail paint. You can use the nail paint for a basecoat, topcoats and nail hardener on its own or along with other nail paint. I actually went into my local Boots to look for this product as I needed a decent basecoat as I quite often use dark colours on my nails and don't want them looking stained or dis-coloured when I remove the colour. I had heard of this product before and have always been impress by the nail paints in the Barry M range which is why I decided to purchase this particular one. The nail paint is formulated to meet the needs of busy fingers and leaves your nails with a high shine, glossy finish. I normally purchase a strengthening base coat but as this was a 3 in 1 product it sounded well worth having and trying. The product comes in a square shaped glass bottle which is clear so you can see the nail paint and the brush which sits inside the bottle. The colour of the nail paint is clear. The lid to the nail paint is black and you can see that this holds the brush in place. On the back of the bottle it advises you to shake the bottle before using. On the front of the bottle it tells you what the product is. I purchased the nail paint from my local Boots store for £2.99 which I thought was very reasonable. You can also purchase this from the Barry M website and from Superdrug.

Using the Product= = = = = = = = I ensured all my nails were clean and dry before applying the product. I shook the bottle well, as you do this you can hear a small ball bearing rattle. I unscrewed the lid and ensured that there was a nice amount of nail paint on the brush. I did wipe the brush slightly on the side to avoid using too much of the product and to also avoid it dripping. I used three strokes of the brush to ensure my nail was covered in the nail paint. The product had the typical strong nail varnish smell to it but I think it was slightly stronger than a normal nail varnish. I left my nails to dry before applying a colour to my nails. The nail paint dried clear and was really shiny, ready for me to apply the main colour. I painted my nails in a bright blue colour and left it to dry. I didn't need to apply the nail paint for a top coat as the blue nail paint was really shiny anyway. The nail paint lasted for a good 4-5 days before chipping and having to remove the colour. Removing the colour was done easily with nail varnish remover and there was no staining on my nails from the blue colour I had used. I have also used the product as a top coat and its leaves my nails looking really shiny and glossy. I have only used this product a few times so I can't be sure if it's actually hardened my nails or not as I have quite hard nails anyway so I can't comment on this aspect of the product. As a top coat the product lasts at least 5-6 before wearing of slightly around the edges of the nail.

Overall Opinion= = = = = = = This is currently my favourite nail polish to use as a base coat and a top coat. The product lives up to its claims of helping to prevent staining on nails and it also provides a high shine and glossy finish to the nails when used as a top coat. I think the product is really good value for money and slightly cheaper in comparison to other brands such as Maybelline and Rimmel. I would definitely purchase this product again when my current bottle runs out and I would also highly recommend it to others to use. This is a much better basecoat that the current product I was using and provides a much better finish to my nails as well. This is another great Nail Care product from Barry M which deserves a fantastic 5 out of 5 stars.

(review may also appear on ciao)

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5 stars

I have a bit of a thing for nail polishes, some expensive (I love OPI and Nails Inc) but some cheap. The Barry M range is in my opinion almost just as good as the premium brands and at around £3 a bottle, they are £10 a bottle cheaper than the Nails Inc bottles. I have several Barry M colours, but the one that I use literally all the time is the 3 in 1.

As a regular user of varnishes, I am prone to staining and discolouring of the finger nails. I sometimes skip the base coat as I find too many layers can actually chip the nails although you lose the protection from discolouration. Since buying this 3 in 1 however, I have used it with every application. It is a multi use nail varnish so it's a base coat, a top coat and a nail hardener. The benefits of this in itself are obvious, instead of having 3 bottles to use, you have 1! All for £3, amazing!

It dries super quick (around a minute) and is easy to apply. The one thing I have found with Barry M is (in comparison to say OPI bottles), the brushes are slightly thinner so you do have to apply fairly quickly and liberally to avoid streaking, but the consistency of this 3 in 1 is slightly thinner anyway so this isn't an issue with this bottle. As with most top coats, it does have a hint of a shine too which is nice.

The effects of the varnish are noticeable but not dramatic. It isn't a wonder product, but it's a handy one. I have fairly hard nails, but they do seem to peel around the edges if I don't watch them, but I found that this happens less since I have started using it which is great! The base coat is good, my nails don't discolour now, and as I mentioned before the top top coat has a nice shine to it, and protects from light wear and tear and small knocks to it.

I love this product so much (most definitely for its amazing price!) so much that when I recently saw it in Boots I bought another bottle even though I am only half way through my first bottle! I normally fall in love with a beauty product and it becomes discontinued so I wasn't taking any chances!

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great as a base/top coat, not great as a nail hardener

I love Barry M products and love their nail polish especially...so many bright colours :) I wear nail polish a lot, and often it's dark or bright colours so I always use clear polish for a base coat to prevent staining.

I picked this one up as I thought, ooh 3 in 1 sounds good. It claims to be a base coat, top coat and nail hardener in one, what more could a girl want I thought. I picked it up in Superdrug for around £2.50 ish which is nowhere near as expensive as a lot of 'nail hardeners' alone.

I started using it every time I painted my nails. As a base coat it prevents stains and that's great. Top coat, not bad adds some shine to my nails and polish. I wouldn't say it prevents chipping or helps keep it shiny for longer but it looks great for the first few days. So far, so good I'm happy enough.

I've also worn it alone on my nails, when I don't want to wear a colour but want them to be a little shiny, or 'done'. It lasts when worn alone and makes my nails shiny looking, almost as if I'd spent ages on a professional manicure.

However, when it comes to the nail hardener part of the claim, this nail polish falls down. I wouldn't say I have weak nails at all, but I would still like to strengthen them to prevent accidental breakage. This product did nothing in the way of strengthening my nails. If you have really weak or brittle nails it might have some sort of impact but for me it did nothing.

I would buy it again as I liked the base and top coat effects but it's not something I'd buy or recommend as a nail hardener.

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Should be sold as a clear nail polish/ undercoat.

This Barry M Nail Polish is a clear nail polish that acts as a base coat, top coat and a nail hardener. If you have read any of my other nail polish reviews you will know that I used to be an extremely bad nail biter! This one of the first nail polishes I bought as I liked the 'hardening' feature it offered which I thought would help my nail grow and being clear would be good to use while my nails grew.

I now use this as a basecoat so my nails don't get stained by the colour on top, wearing it by itself is good too as I find it takes absolutely forever to chip, it also doesn't take long at all to dry so you can apply your colour almost straight away. I don't think that the hardening quality has anything to offer now that my nails are fully grown though, so it's more of a 2 in 1 now.

I don't really like the effect of using it as a top coat because my nails already have a coat of this plus two coats of nail varnish (usually Barry M which I find are quite thick already) so my nails look weird and chunky with it. I don't think it offers any form of further protection from chipping either because it's easier to dent as it's so thick. I also think it takes away some of the natural shine that nail polish colour has.

I think it's just a normal clear polish that Barry M says can be used as a hardener and topcoat just to get it to sell more but it's a great clear polish for a cheap price of £3. It's not a 3 in 1 it's a just a 1!

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A good starter top/base coat, but if you're serious about nails you're better off going higher up.

I'm always in two minds about clear nail varnishes; on the one hand they're useful for preventing stains and fixing your nail colour but on the other they take effort and time to put on which I just don't have the patience for.

This nail varnish is the only top/base coat I own, well the only pure clear one anyway. I bought it many moons ago for about £3, which is not very expensive I'm sure you'll agree! In my younger days I used to spend hours painting my nails including a top and bottom coat, and I'd always be disappointed when one of the coats wasn't dried properly so my perfectly (well, almost) applied nail varnish either wrinkled or dented fairly quick. I've come to the conclusion that this is because I'm impatient, hence why I don't bother with it any more. I'm also not certain what the third dimension of this nail varnish is - maybe it's referring to the fact that you can use it on it's own (which I often do now, rather than use it as a top/base coat).

Having said that, if you can hold yourself to not touch anything for half an hour after you've put this on as a base coat, it works pretty well. It gives your nails a shiny, stable surface for any other nail varnish to glide onto and as a top coat it's pretty hard wearing. It doesn't chip immediately unless you rush it and don't let it dry. There are two metal ball bearings in the bottle which help the longevity of this product as nail varnish that has split needs mixing to come back together - the ball bearings aid this beautifully. I'm not sure why they're not in every Barry M bottle! As a nail varnish on it's own, it's middle of the road. But then again, what amazing things can you do with a clear nail varnish?

Barry M nail varnish is available from most Superdrug and Boots stores; it comes in a massive range of colours, styles and sparkles, and whilst this particular one doesn't hit all the spots, it is generally a good starter polish range for those who love bright colours and aren't massively fussed about how long wearing it is.

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Good if you have lots of patience, but I prefer something that dries a little quicker.

I purchased this 3 in 1 clear polish along with a few other Barry M nail polishes a while ago. At the time, I had no other base/top coat to compare it to, so I was fairly happy with it. Nothing life changing, but not awful either. Since I've been using a different top and base coat, I can clearly see where this one fails. Yes, it protects the nails from staining (nothing worse than yellow nails after taking polish off!) and makes your new manicure look lovely and glossy, but like the rest of Barry M's polishes, it doesn't seem to dry for hours and hours, causing it to get little indents in the polish which is pretty darn unattractive. It does have its good points though - the brush is fairly decent and it's 'three free', which means it's free of the three nasty nail polish ingredients: Toluene, Formaldehyde, and Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP).

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Doesn't deliver on all levels, but still a useful budget product that's good to have.

I always used to skimp on clear polishes, just because I didn't want to have extra bottles getting in my way while I did my nails. That stuff's not even coloured! I just wanted to get to the fun stuff! However, as a heavy wearer of blacks and dark polishes, I was prone to getting stained nails - that was enough to scare me into some kind of action. I still didn't want to amass more bottles than I needed to, so I thought I'd try Barry M's offering: a multi-purpose transparent varnish that, in theory, is the only one you need.

PACKAGING: The product is in Barry M's standard size and format: a clear, square bottle containing 10ml of varnish. I do like Barry M's bottles - the shape is great for storage and they do contain a lot for the price (around £2.99). Though called "3 in 1 Nail Paint" on the official website, its actual label is "Basecoat, Topcoat & Nail Hardener All in One". Can anything really do all that?

APPLICATION: The varnish is simple to apply, and I use it before and after putting on my normal colours. I find Barry M's brushes to be good, if slightly on the narrow side, which can make their polishes a bit streaky and fiddly to put on - however, this varnish has a slightly runnier formula makes it easy to spread and apply quickly. It dries in a couple of minutes, completely clear, and adds a little bit of extra shine.

QUALITY: In my experience, it delivers best as a base coat - I've never had any problems with discoloured nails after using it. As a protective topcoat, it doesn't make a massive difference, maybe eking out an extra day or two of wear, and it won't prevent chipping or denting if you really knock a nail. The nail-hardening effects are the hardest to comment on, since I have quite thick nails that chip or peel only rarely. They were getting brittle before I was in the habit of using clear coats, so perhaps this did help them recover somewhat, but I wouldn't rely on it as a main nail health product. It's a good base coat and decent topcoat, and the nail-hardening aspect is by-the-by for me.

I like this varnish a lot, and it's been a staple in my nail regime ever since I bought it. I'm now on my second bottle - it lasts for ages! There are undoubtedly stronger topcoats that you can buy separately, and proper nailcare products for hardening your nails, but this one's a convenient jack of all trades. I'd recommend it as an effective base coat - it's still cheaper than most - and handy quick fix for those without specific nailcare needs, but it's not the magical panacea it's marketed as.

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A decent choice for a basic clear polish, at a nice price

Barry M 3-in-1 Nail Paint is described as a combined basecoat, topcoat, and nail hardener. I've used it as all three, but on the whole I stick to using it as a basecoat - it's not completely amazing, but I'm happy with it given the price - £2.95, and easily available and Boots and Superdrug.

Barry M products are usually a good bet, especially given their low prices, and their nail polishes are some of my favourites for that very reason! This one is only so-so, though, as it completely fails to stand out from other similarly priced equivalents, in my opinion.

It comes in the standard Barry M nail polish bottle, and has an okay brush - not too small, thankfully, so it doesn't take long to apply this. It's got quite a thin formula, so you can only apply a thin layer at a time - this can be an advantage if you are going to use several coats of colour as well though! This also helps it to dry more quickly.As I said, I mostly use this as a basecoat: basically, I put it on before any other nail polish in order to stop my nails from getting stained with whichever colour I chose.It works well just on its own as well, if you just want a neat, shiny plain nail. As a topcoat, it gives a nice shiny finish and doesn't affect the colour you put it on top of - no yellowing.

I've never noticed this having a nail hardening effect, so I'm not convinced on that front, and I don't think it is particularly good at prolonging your manicure, compared to similar products. Basically, if you're looking for a basic clear nail polish, then this is a good choice, as it's cheap and lasts a long time - I've had mine for over two years now, and it hasn't gone all gummy as some polishes do. It's not terribly exciting though, and I wouldn't recommend it if you need something heavy-duty to stop chips, etc.